carbonara
/ˌkɑɹbəˈnɑɹə/noun
carbonara is spelled C-A-R-B-O-N-A-R-A: 9 letters and 4 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, carbonara means “A thick Italian pasta sauce, made with guanciale, grated cheese, beaten egg yolks and pepper” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of carbonara is carbonaras.
How many letters and syllables are in carbonara?
| Letters | 9: C-A-R-B-O-N-A-R-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 65,114th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is carbonara?
Carbonara appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 65,114th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce carbonara?
- UK /ˌkɑːbəˈnɑːɹə/
- US /ˌkɑɹbəˈnɑɹə/
- US /ˌkɑɹbəˈnæɹə/
Carbonara has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-carbonara.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with carbonara?
5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as carbonara from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹə/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of carbonara
- carbonaras plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does carbonara mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A thick Italian pasta sauce, made with guanciale, grated cheese, beaten egg yolks and pepper.
- 2
A spaghetti dish made using such a sauce.
- 3
proscribedA spaghetti dish made using a similar sauce made from a different type of cured pork than guanciale (such as bacon, pancetta, lardons, gammon or ham).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Carbonara in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense thick pasta sauce:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | carbonara |
| Portuguese | carbonara |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does carbonara come from?
From the Italian carbonara, shortening of alla carbonara (literally “in the manner of charcoal burners”, or “in the manner of the Carbonari”), ultimately from carbone (“coal”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).